IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.16-based systems, such as 802.16e WiMAX (Wireless Maximize) systems, have relatively small cell radii. When such systems are designed for continuous coverage, cellular-type applications, there is a need to connect a relatively large number of radio sites in each given area to the greater serving network. Connection to the greater serving network is via so-called “backhaul” connections, each of which can require substantial expense. Such “backhaul” expenses raise the startup cost that a prospective operator often must be willing to bear before building and establishing a large customer base.
To reduce startup costs associated with backhaul, the industry has turned to a couple of wireless approaches. The first approach is to multiplex the traffic from several radio sectors at a site and then use a much higher speed radio at the site to backhaul the traffic to yet another site. This typically requires additional multiplexing hardware, high bandwidth radios and a separate frequency band. A second approach under consideration is to further multiplex the traffic from several sites to one master site using a second frequency band wide enough to multiplex several sites worth of traffic. However, this type of approach is believed to require a very fast Media Access Control (MAC) protocol, which is believed to have not yet been developed.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus for providing wireless backhaul that may reduce operator startup costs while avoiding some of the drawbacks present in the prior art approaches.
Specific embodiments of the present invention are disclosed below with reference to FIGS. 1-8. Both the description and the illustrations have been drafted with the intent to enhance understanding. For example, the dimensions of some of the figure elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements, and well-known elements that are beneficial or even necessary to a commercially successful implementation may not be depicted so that a less obstructed and a more clear presentation of embodiments may be achieved.
Simplicity and clarity in both illustration and description are sought to effectively enable a person of skill in the art to make, use, and best practice the present invention in view of what is already known in the art. One of skill in the art will appreciate that various modifications and changes may be made to the specific embodiments described below without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, the specification and drawings are to be regarded as illustrative and exemplary rather than restrictive or all-encompassing and all such modifications to the specific embodiments described below are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.